I still can't believe they never even watched the original. That was sure evident

*Michael answers the phone*: "Hello?"

Taylor: We have to have sex right away! (laughed out loud)

Michael: Um, who is this?

Taylor: It's Taylor, who do you think? So, when can you do me?

OMG, this too much!

Michael: Even if you did get pregnant last night, it would take at least a couple of weeks to show up.

Taylor: Michael, I could FEEL the moment of conception!

Taylor: Thank you for all your hard work.

Wow, it took 6 seasons but Andrew Shue finally had a genuinely well-acted scene! (Or, at least, half of it) when Sam announced they were getting married. I laughed my ass off, something which I did a lot of since it seems MELROSE PLACE finally managed to do some humor. And Jamie Luner is just fantastic from the moment she walks in.

I also loved Jamie Luner. The first few episodes she was kind of quiet but then she really took off.

The show had so many great female characters (even if written poorly now and then). The guys I always found to be so boring in comparison except for Michael.

I like Jack Wagner and Rob Estes but never found them that appealing on MP.

Billy was a dud.

Jake, I never really enjoyed paired with anyone (and that was probably more from the writing).

Matt was a snooze except when he tried to out crazy Kimberly while Michael had "amnesia".

Craig could have been a good business rival for Amanda in the beginning but then that got trashed.

Coop was annoying as all get out!

Sydney is still my fave character.....

I really enjoyed Lisa Rinna as Taylor. Hard to believe that this role was originally intended for Hunter Tylo, who was fired because she was pregnant.

Amy Locane was found guilty of vehicular homicide and facing 10 year in prison.

Edited December 5, 201213 yr by quartermainefan

Just finished the last episode and I absolutely loved it. It was a great sendoff for everyone and I liked where they all ended up. The only thing is that I wish we would have at least gotten guest appearances from Billy, Alison, Jake, Jo...any of the still living characters. For example, I think it would have been great for Billy or Alison to have made an appearance at Peter and Amanda's "funeral". Or I would have even loved a montage of the best moments from the show. Still, I would give the finale a solid A.

I'm so sad that I am done with it!!! It seems so hard to believe when I think about how the show changed over time and how event after event just kept happening for SEVEN SEASONS. *sigh* Guess I'll move on to "Dynasty" now...

Thanks Melrose Place for providing such wonderful entertainment. Even in its weak spots, I would still rank it as one of the best primetime soaps ever. In fact, I almost want to go back and watch the best episodes again already!!

The only thing is that I wish we would have at least gotten guest appearances from Billy, Alison, Jake, Jo...any of the still living characters.

To be honest, most of the cast members at this time were still kind of stuck up about the show and either wanted too much compensation, just wouldn't do it or had scheduling conflicts. Courtney Thorne-Smith (Alison) was pretty much the only cast member who was up to doing a cameo, but she only wanted a non-speaking part but couldn't do it in the end due to her commitments on Ally McBeal, I believe. She was slated to appear in the bar scene where Amanda and Peter dances just before Eve tries to run them over if I remember correctly.

Here are some other concepts that were thrown around according to Charles Pratt Jr:

- An idea that went pretty far, possibly even filmed but cut out, was that Natalie - yes, Natalie, Alison's roommate that left in the first minute of the first episode - was supposed to come back and ask Lexi (Jamie Luner) if she knew where Alison was. It was dropped as it was considered to be too obscure.

- Another idea was to have Eve's (Rena Sofer) last scene having her being taken to a psychiatrist - as she would've entered the office the chair would've swirlved around to reveal none other than the good doctor Kimberley Shaw (Marcia Cross). They apparently even negotiated with Marcia about coming back, but she demanded too much cash.

- The most insane idea, however, was to have a dream sequence/one of the characters (possibly Michael (dream) or Eve (death)) going to Melrose Hell - basically meeting all the dead bad guys in a twisted hellish version of the courtyard. This was scrapped when it became apparent it was going to be too expensive to bring them all back.

They also had a plot planned for bringing back Sydney at the start of season 7 with her having been kidnapped and had her death faked by that millionaire who courted her in season 5 (I forget his name). That idea was scrapped when Laura Leighton suddenly signed to 90210 instead.

Edited January 12, 201312 yr by te.

Damn. Season 7 could have been totally revitalized if Syd were brought back then.

It's too bad the cast at the time were so snobby about the show after they left. Now I'd bet they'd all come back. I mean half of them appeared in the totally wasted reboot.

And could you imagine seeing Kimberly alive at the end? Damn. Would have been amazing.

Edited January 12, 201312 yr by KMan101

Here's one of the articles where they talk about the whole thing:

Re: "Melrose Hell"

But before it makes an exit after seven steamy, schemey years, consider this finale: A major character dies in the last episode, goes straight to hell and comes face to face with all the deranged killers and psychopaths (Kimberly, Sydney, Brooke...) who've bitten the dust during seasons past. The kicker: The infamous apartment complex pool begins to bubble like a caldron, revealing Melrose Place and hell to be one and the same, with all the old villains chained to their apartment doors.

Re: Kimberly returning:

The story line was revised: To make way for a new highway, the body of deceased doctor Kimberly Show is exhumed back in Ohio, revealing an empty coffin. At the end of the hour, when another femme fatale goes insane and is locked away, Kimberly reappears as her psychiatrist. Then again... this scenario also had to be scrapped after Spelling Television, which produces the show, and Kimberly's portrayer, actress Marcia Cross, failed to reach a financial agreement.

Re: Sydney returning:

In a desperate attempt to lure back old fans, some thought was given earlier this season to bringing Leighton's character back from the dead, with the far-out explanation that Sydney's former admirer Carter had paid off doctors to pronounce her dead, then whisked her away to a convalescent hospital where the vixen was being held captive. But before the plot progressed to paper, Leighton had consented to a limited run on sister series "90210."

Re: Darren Star about the show's lasting longer:

Series creator Darren Star, who departed after writing and executive producing the first 100 episodes, admits he'd originally envisioned a longer run for his serial, comparable to "Dallas' " 13 seasons or "Knots Landing's" 14 years. "I always thought the show had limitless possibilities because anybody could move in and out of that building," explains Star, who created and now oversees HBO's racy "Sex and the City." He suspects "Melrose's" increasingly outrageous plots took their toll. "I think the show always worked best when there was a core of relatability in the characters."

Re: "character's returning" (the one who was sick was Courtney Thorne-Smith)

Despite rumors to the contrary, none of the show's vets will reappear in this evening's finale (one unnamed actress agreed to return but fell ill shortly before filming). "It was too expensive," Spelling says. "The (comeback) scenes that were submitted to me were all startlingly small cameos. And I thought it was a little cheesy to cut to some character having a drink at the bar just for the sake of bringing the actor back."

http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/4616/lat0524.html

The Natalie scene was indeed filmed apparently:

Longtime fans will remember that Natalie, Allison's first roommate, vacated the premises in the dark of night early in the first episode. That's why Allison needed a new roommate (namely Billy). Well, TV Guide Online has learned that the writers and producers wrote and filmed a final scene in which Natalie finally returns to the apartment complex only to find that Allison, Jane, Michael, Rhonda, Sandy and Jake are long gone, and poor Matt is dead.

http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/4616/tvg0528.html

Can't believe The Place is up all these years later! Too bad very few of the images work.

Here's another article about ending the show with Charles Pratt Jr and Carol Mendelsohn plus Homicide's Tom Fontana and Another World's Leah Laiman:

http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/4616/nyt0613.html

Edited January 12, 201312 yr by te.

They should have had the Natalie thing. Considering how widely panned the finale was that might have at least been fun.

MAN. I am excited and saddened by all of those scenarios. Especially the Kimberly being alive thing...and if they would have had Sydney come back for seven seven, I am POSITIVE the show wouldn't have ended. *sigh* such wasted possibilities...

They should have had the Natalie thing. Considering how widely panned the finale was that might have at least been fun.

In all honesty - I have no problem with the finale. I thought it was good in the way that they tied up the loose ends, but left enough things open to speculate about.

I agree with what Darren Star said though - if the show had been handled with more care after he left, it could've gone on for another seven seasons, but a lot of stuff happened to prevent that. I think Heather's pregnancy screwed up season 6 in a major way as they had to start filming earlier and it was obvious that they had no idea what direction to take the season in leaving a lot of loose end plots (Samantha paints a creepy picture! Michael dates a stripper! COOP.). Doug Savant was also signed up to do half the season, but because of commitments they had to write him out in the first episode.

BTW - I'm rewatching season 1 right now and I guess Natalie did come back to check her mail:

Edited January 13, 201312 yr by te.

Watching early Melrose is such a drag - Jane takes off her wedding ring! Billy writes a bad script! Jake is poor! Ooooh!

By the way - for any ratings nerd out there this site has the ratings for the entire first season: http://www.vidiot.com/Melrose

Edited January 26, 201312 yr by te.